Announcement
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: While Gilthunder's been stressed over trying to give Margaret the best birthday ever, she's been equally stressed about something far more important. - One-shot.


Margaret had been having a rather tough time as of late. Her father's health was steadily falling, she was soon to be anointed Queen of Liones, her youngest sister was back in the capital, which meant that some of the Sins were also in town, which could either be a very good thing or a very costly thing (structural damages seemed to follow them wherever they went).

Which was why Gilthunder was rather glad that her birthday was coming up. It wasn't an occasion that his wife honestly enjoyed (given the dark years that they had all gone through, he was sure she'd more or less fallen out of the habit of celebrating it), but he still could remember when they were young children the celebratory parties they had. He tried, in the recent years, to at the very least always get her a nice gift, but short of that, Margaret seemed rather distant to the idea.

She did, after all, have a lot going on. Constantly. As the Great Holy Knight, he rather understood. But on another level, he was certain, he truly had no idea.

That alone was the reason that the man wanted to get Margaret something spectacular that year. Something to take her mind off all the things that had been bothering both of them recently.

Unfortunately, however, he just couldn't find that special thing.

It wasn't his fault! Honest. He tried. He thought. Asked around. Thought some more. Tried to goad Margaret into revealing some deep longing to him. But...he was just unable to come up with a proper gift.

Not that it was a big deal, honestly. At all. Whether he just got her a bouquet of roses or only made a passing remark about it, Margaret wouldn't be upset with him at all. She'd be pleased, no doubt, that he even recalled the date. There was even a good chance that, if he didn't mention it, that she wouldn't and they could just go on as usual.

But he didn't want it to be a usual day. He wanted it to be a relaxing and fun and take her mind off things, if only for a little while.

Somehow, however, he found himself lying in bed he night before her birthday, with absolutely no idea how to accomplish that. He laid awake most of the night (for an unrelated reason; he was actually quite worried over the deteriorating situation between two neighboring Kingdoms who seemed about ready to go to war with one another and would no doubt expect Liones to come to one of their aids) and was up when the sky outside the window of their bedchamber turned from pitch black to dark blue.

Gilthunder only smiled, shifting onto his side about that time, to stare over at his wife. He could tell that she was awake as well, as she had been for some time (there must have been something inhibiting her sleep as well) and only moved to cuddle up to her back.

"Mmmm," he hummed as he leaned down to brush his face against her neck, eliciting a soft giggle from Margaret. "It's morning."

"It is," she sighed as one of his arms came to wrap around her. Nuzzling back against him, she shut her eyes with a grin as he pressed a kiss to her neck. 'Gil."

He let out a soft breath before saying, "Do you have many plans this morning?"

Instead of answering, she only hummed. He gave her neck another kiss for her effort.

"You should cancel them," he said, taking the noise as a confirmation. "And spend the day with me."

"Why would I do that?" She laid a hand over the one he had resting against her stomach. "When I am getting you right now?"

"Because you can never have your fill of me.'

"That's true." She took a deep breath then before whispering, "It'd be nice to spend the morning together. There is something that I..."

'Want?" He was a cross between hopeful and disappointed. She might reveal to him what it was that he could go out and get for her, but at the same time, she had to come right out and tell him flat what it was, which took the specialness out of it. "For your birthday? I wish I had realized whatever it is sooner. I've spent the entire month searching for just the right thing, but I was not able to come up with much. Tell me what it is-"

"My… You remembered my-"

"Of course." He sounded equally as shocked that she would assume otherwise. "When have I not?"

"I am only...surprised, what with all that is going on-"

"Is there something more important to me than my wife?" He shifted then, putting an elbow underneath himself so that he could push up. "Please enlighten me to what it is."

Instead of answering that, she only said, "I myself did not recall it until just now, if you must know."

He only stared down at her, though she still laid facing away from him. "And what then is more important to you? Than yourself?"

"Obviously, you."

"I would be more flattered, was your tone not so flat."

She smiled, if not a bit wryly, at that before turning her neck a bit to stare over her shoulder at him. 'There are many things on my mind other than myself, Gilthunder. And yes, you are certainly one."

Falling back onto his side, he only watched her for a moment before asking, "If that was not what was bothering you, then what exactly was?"

She only faced forwards once more, staring over at the window on the far side of the room. The sky had not lightened anymore, seemingly, but she watched anyways, for any streaks of pink that might symbolize dawn.

Finding none, she only laid there for a moment before saying, "I suppose I am just unnecessarily nervous."

"Nervous," he repeated as moved once more to snuggle up to her back, one arm falling over her stomach. "About what?"

"I… It's foolish."

"Most feelings are," he agreed. "But that does not make you above them, my Princess."

"Of course I am not. But still-"

"Is it about your father? Or your sisters?"

"No," she said slowly. "W-Why? Is there something that-"

"No, Margaret." He nuzzled his head into her shoulder, causing her shiver. "Of course not."

"Then-"

"You would just feel better if you told me what it is that's wrong," he reasoned. "Unless...does it have to do with me? Is it something...bad? Did you-"

"It's just… Gil..."

"What?" He laid still then, head still rested in the crevice of her neck. "Tell me, Margaret. What is it?"

She tired to smile, even though he was not facing her, and was a bit dismayed when it came out a grimace. Through it, she was able to get out, "I have found myself with child."

He blinked before holding still, as if frozen. During this time, Margaret continued speaking.

"Which is not wholly a bad thing," she said sounding as if she'd repeated the same things to herself many times. We...do not need an heir, I suppose, but neither of my sisters are rather enthralled with the idea of a reign and, as you know, my father is not...well and I believe he would be very glad to-"

"Margaret..."

"The timing is not grand, I realize, but-"

He shifted a bit away from her, taking in a breath before asking, "How long have you-"

"Not long," she assured him, rolling over then so that they could stare at one another. "And I full intended to tell you as soon as possible, but I..."

"Who knows?"

"N-Not many," she assured him. "My nursemaids mostly as well as- Gil."

His face had broken out into a grin and she could only nuzzle into his hand as the man cupped her face. Letting out a slight laugh, he said, "I am so happy. My Princess. I..." He laughed some more and, though hers was laced with relief. Leaning forwards, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "How could you have felt as if it were that hard to tell me about this?"

"I'm not sure," she said through her giggles as Gil moved to gently push her onto her back, being courteous of the fact the edge of the bed was so close. "I was just…"

"You should never," he told her with a somewhat serious tone, "fear telling me something. You know that."

"Of course I do." She ran her hands through his hair as he rested above her, one hand on the side of her head. Letting the pink strands fall through her fingers, she whispered, "I love you."

"I love you more." His teeth showed that time, his grin rather toothy. "And I lover our… I can't believe that you and I are going to-"

"I know." Eyes staring just as deeply into his, she said, "I do not even know how to go about telling others. I-"

"Do not," he suggested, bowing his head a so he could press a kiss to her lips. Against them, he whispered, "Just for awhile, 'let's keep it between the two of us. Yes?"

"Yes," she repeated. "That actually does sound nice."

"Very," was the last thing before bowing his head one last time.

And when the Princess and the Great Holy Knight finally showed their faces that morning, it was far behind schedule, though both were in rather high spirits, given how strict they typically were with their time.

Howzer, who Gilthunder ran into that after breakfast, only knocked shoulders with the man, grinning madly.

"Interesting morning?" he remarked, taking in how bright Gilthunder's face looked compared to his usual tense veneer. "Between you and the Princess?"

"You could say so, yes," Gil remarked with a nod.

"You delivered an early birthday present?"

That got him to lose his grin, if only for a moment, as Gilthunder recalled his original plan for the day. Letting out a short breath, he thought for a moment before saying, "No. Believe it or not, Margaret gave me one."

"Do what?" Howzer, taking that in a far different way, snickered. "You typically do not share such details, Gil."

Shaking his head, the Great Holy Knight only said, "Still I am not."

Though he did not see his wife for the rest of the day, Gilthunder couldn't get her out of his mind. He was in hyper drive then, spending much of his time searching far and wide for a gift for his wife. And, when that finally fell through, he settled on a new piece of jewelry with a bit of a heavy heart, throwing in the towel.

After all, there was little that would top her announcement to him that morning.

None.

And he didn't find one that day, at all, but did find the next best thing.

Namely, he found Veronica and Griamor roaming around the castle.

"You two are back?" he asked in shock, rushing to pat his cousin on the shoulder after bowing lowly to his sister-in-law. "Since when?"

"Only an hour or so ago," Veronica said as Griamor, who had faithfully accompanied her on a voyage to a neighboring kingdom on royal business, nodded. "We would have been here three days ago had someone not-"

"Please, Princess Veronica," Griamor begged, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I told you that it was a mistake. I confused the two roads on accident, I-"

"How long have you lived in the capital?" she carped with a frown. "And you cannot even find your way back to-"

"Forgive me, Princess," Gil remarked, eyes twinkling slightly, just from hearing the young woman berate his cousin, "but surely you should have been able to find your own way back? And recognize his mistake? You have far more of a connection to the capital after all."

"I..." Her glare turned to him before the purple haired woman retorted, "Why are you bothering us again?"

"Greeting you, you mean?" Then, something coming to him suddenly, he bounced a bit before moving to hug his sister-in-law. She only shoved the man off though.

"Gil, what is wrong with-"

"This could not have been better timing!" He forced Veronica into hugging him as Griamor only stood there in shock. "Your sister, Elizabeth, is here and now so are you!"

"And?" Veronica gave into his hold, but was rather stiff about it. The longer it went on, the more annoyance Gil's cousin found. "Would you let me-"

"I will present you to Margaret," he said, releasing her just enough to so he could stare her in the eyes. "As her birthday present. All three sisters together and I will say that I did it."

Then he did the unthinkable. In his joy over just how well the entire day was turning out, he kissed Veronica on the cheek.

It honestly about got him slugged.

"What is your problem!" Veronica shoved him off as Griamor's mouth hung agape. "Gilthunder-"

"If you tell your sister that it was I that had you come," he said with a wide smile, "I will never do that again."

"You better not either way," she threatened with a heavy gaze. "Else I'll be flaying the Great Holy Knight."

Then, in a huff, Veronica stomped off, leaving only the cousins.

"That is more contact with the Princess you got in those few moments," Griamor whispered, "than I have had in my entirety of guarding her."

"Yes, well," Gilthunder sighed as he straightened himself and remembered his place. "Brotherly love and all of that. It's a powerful thing."

Needless to say, Margaret was in for quite the shock at the sight of Veronica that night. Not to mention Baltra and Elizabeth were quite glad to see her.

At one point, however, Veronica did take her sister aside to speak softly.

"Just what," she complained softly as the others in the hall (namely Hawk and Meliodas, who Elisabeth had drug along), more than indulged themselves on the Princess' birthday meal, "has gotten into your husband?"

"Hmmm?"

"He's so… I don't know. When he saw me, he...hugged and kissed me!"

Margaret only giggled, just a bit, before saying, "I suppose Gilthunder is rather...happy today."

"I'll say." Veronica crossed her arms over her chest as she glared over to where the man in question was holding a conversation with both Griamor and Howzer. "All this just because of your birthday?"

Nodding, Margaret stared over at him as well. "Yes. All because of my silly birthday."


End file.
